Despite being pretty generic in some areas and having a good helping of bullshit in some others, the original Dark Seal, or Gate of Doom as it was known in America, was still a pretty good time. It was an interesting blend of beat-’em-up gameplay mixed with RPG elements, and it did feel satisfying to take on plenty of these enemies and overcoming these challenges, even if there were still several elements that did drag the game down for me, but that is to be expected from a Data East game at this point. Something else that is to be expected from a Data East game though would be a sequel, and Dark Seal was no stranger when it came to this, but not only would it only get one sequel instead of several, but it would also keep things relatively simple and familiar instead of changing things up too drastically. This sequel would then be released as Dark Seal II, or Wizard Fire for us in America, which is a pretty terrible name, so I’ll just stick with the original name if you don’t mind.

As expected for this kind of sequel, there are obviously improvements to be seen throughout the game, but also with this kind of sequel, there is also something else that is to be expected immediately when going to play it: repetition. You are typically gonna be in for a very similar experience to the original game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if the original game wasn’t all that compelling or fun to begin with, that could be a bit of a problem. But, as a whole, despite those problems that I will get to later, I would still say that Dark Seal II is a good game as a whole. I wouldn’t say it is any better or worse then the original Dark Seal, but if you were to play through the game along with a friend, then you will probably have a good time regardless.

The story is about the same as the original, where you have to take down this evil overlord as one of FIVE heroes instead of four, so it is clear that Data East means business this time if they are gonna increase the hero selection by one number, the graphics do look pretty similar to the original game, but I would say this is an improvement over the original, looking a lot less crusty and more vibrant and colorful, the music is as generic as it gets, with there not being really any bad tracks, but none that really scream originality, and none that stuck with me after my playthrough, the control is about the same as the original game, with it working just as well as before, but the larger sprites do make traversing through some stages more of a pain in the ass then it needs to be, and the gameplay is very similar to the original game, which may be great for some, but can also be a problem for others.

The game is your typical beat-’em-up mixed with dungeon crawler and RPG elements, where you take control of one of five generic fantasy heroes, take on several levels that take the player through plenty of different medieval settings, defeat an onslaught of monsters and creatures that will attack you throughout the game using either your regular attacks or one of the many special forms that you can take at certain times, gather plenty of gold, armor, and health items that will aid you along your valient quest, and take on plenty of fearsome foes that will test both your mashing and credit feeding skills. As you would expect, it is mostly what you also got from the original game, which may or may not be a good thing depending on who you ask, but there are one or two elements present that does separate this from the original.

Like I mentioned earlier, the graphics and overall presentation is better than the original game, and in addition to improving the base graphics further, there are also several anime-styled cutscenes that can be seen throughout the game, complete with full voice acting for the characters most of the time. This is pretty impressive and cool to see for a game like this, but not only do the cutscenes tell you pretty much exactly what you would expect, but the character designs in the cutscenes are generic as hell, and the voice acting is really damn bad, but then again, what else can you expect from a game like this? In addition to this, they also added something that does fix one of my main concerns in the original game. Like the first game, your base speed is very slow, but you can find upgrades that will allow you to move faster, and thankfully, whenever you die and spawn back in, you are given the chance to get that item back along with a few others to help you out. There was never a moment in this game where I felt like I was going too slow or I wanted things to hurry up, so at least they improved on that aspect.

Unfortunately though, that is all that this game has going for it in comparison to the original. It is widely still the same as the original game, which all in all isn’t that much of a bad thing, because again, if you just want something to play for a half-hour or so with a friend, then you could certainly do a lot worse than this. However, given the fact that this game does nothing to build on the formula that it established in the previous title, it make you question why this sequel was even made in the first place other than for money. In addition to this, there are one or two moments in the game that showcase some oh so lovely horrible game design. There is this one section in the final level where you have to cross this gap that has two platforms circling to and from it, but like I mentioned before, since your character sprite is so huge, doing this is way harder then it sounds. And on top of that, you also have this unkillable dragon sending gusts of wind your way the entire time, making it even more difficult to traverse over. There is making a section hard, and then there is making a section generally unplayable, and that is what that section is.

Overall, despite a lack of innovation and change, as well as one or two sections that can kiss my ass, Dark Seal II is still a good enough game and sequel, one that I will probably never come back to at any point in the future, but one that can still provide a good session of fun if you and a friend are up to it. I would recommend it for those who are fans of the original game, as well as those who are a fan of Data East’s other similar titles, but for everyone else, you could do much better when it comes to a medieval fantasy beat-’em-up. Also, if you were wondering if you could still transform into a pig in this game, I can confirm that yes, you do indeed still have the ability to turn into a pig. It is appropriate, considering the amount of hogwash that you can find in this game (yep, the joke still isn’t funny).

Game #391